Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 21:4 (Dec 1978)
Article: Christendom’s Creeds: Their Relevance In The Modern World
Author: Bruce A. Demarest

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Christendom’s Creeds:
Their Relevance In The Modern World

Bruce A. Demarest*

*Bruce Demarest is associate professor of systematic theology at conservative Baptist Theological Seminary, Denver, Colorado.

I. Origin Of The Creeds

A creed, or rule of faith, is a concise statement of what one must believe in order to be a Christian. Certain fathers in the West, beginning with Cyprian, introduced the term “symbol” (i.e., “sign” or “instrument of identification”) to denote-those articles of faith that differentiated the Christian from the pagan or Jew. Ostensibly the Church’s creedal formulae were grounded in the Word of God. Augustine in his treatise, “On the Creed,” defined the Symbol as a brief compendium of divine truths that lie scattered across the pages of Scripture.

Significantly, Christianity is the only major religion that has drafted detailed creedal statements. Biblical and post-Biblical Judaism confessed Yahweh’s absolute uniqueness through its Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” (Deut 6:4). A simple creed patterned on the Shema was employed in the liturgy of the Qumran community. But neither Islam nor such eastern religions as Hinduism, Buddhism or Shintoism have developed detailed creedal formulae.

The genesis of the Church’s formal symbols resides in the protocreedal statements of faith and worship that lie embedded in the NT. Paul, recalling Jesus’ arraignment before the Roman governor (John 18:33–38), declares that the Lord “in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession” (1 Tim 6:13). The Lord himself commanded prospective disciples to publicly confess their faith (Matt 10:32–33). Thus Nathaniel (John 1:49), Martha (11:27), Peter (Matt 16:16) and the Roman officer (27:54) confessed Jesus to be God’s promised Messiah.

Later when post-Pentecost believers had gained a clear and settled faith they pointedly acknowledged Jesus as “Lord” (1 Cor 12:3; Rom 10:9), thereby attributing to the Nazarene the sovereign deity that Israel reserved for Yahweh alone. Further reflection on God’s saving revelation in Jesus led the Church to confess further dimensions of Christ’s reality. Paul in Rom 10:9–10 outlines three essentials of a confession that saves: belief in...

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